The winter transfer window closed January 31st, 2014 and Arsenal’s only outlay was to spend £660,000 to get a defensive midfielder in on loan, and as soon as he pulled on his boots for his first training session, he was injured. Arsenal fans had been calling for Arsene to spend some money on a forward but the club and manager decided to stick with what we had: Giroud, Podolski, and Yaya Sanogo. Since the transfer window closed, however, the wheels have come off on Arsenal’s title challenge and it has been on both ends of the pitch where Arsenal are looking frail and toothless. Consider this:

Before the window closed (Premier League numbers only):

Arsenal had kept 10 clean sheets in 22 matches (clean sheet every 2.2 matches)
Arsenal had conceded 19 goals in 22 matches (0.86 GPG)
Arsenal had conceded more than 1 goal just 3 times in those 22 matches (3 v. Villa, 6 v. City, and 2 v. Soton)
Arsenal only conceded 6 first half goals in those 22 games
Worryingly, Arsenal had conceded 11 goals in 3 of 19 games meaning that in 16 games Arsenal conceded 8 goals (0.5 GPG) and in the other 3 games had conceded 11 (3.7 GPG)
Arsenal had only been held scoreless twice in 22 matches
Arsenal had only been held to one goal in 5 matches of those 22
Arsenal had scored 43 goals in 22 matches (1.95 GPG)
That means Arsenal had 15 games where they scored 2+ goals in those 22 matches before the window closed
Because of that record, Arsenal spent 19 weeks on the top of the table

After the window closed (Premier League Number only):

Arsenal have kept 3 clean sheets in 11 matches (clean sheet every 3.7 matches)
Arsenal have conceded 21 goals in 11 matches (1.9 GPG — more than DOUBLE what we allowed in the first 22)
Arsenal have conceded more than one goal 5 times in those 11 games (Everton, Swansea, Southampton, Liverpool, Chelsea)
Arsenal have conceded 13 first half goals in those 11 games (including four matches in a row where we have conceded at least once in the first 30 minutes)
And the worry above pays off as Arsenal have conceded 14 goals in just three games of those 11 (4.7 GPG — Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton)
Arsenal have been held scoreless in 4 of the 11 matches since the window closed
Arsenal have been held to 1 goal in 3 of those 11 matches (in other words in 7 of the 11 matches Arsenal have scored just 3 goals)
Arsenal have scored 14 goals in the last 11 matches (1.27 GPG)
Arsenal have, however, scored 2+ against each of our non-top four competitors (Swansea, Sunderland, Palace, Soton) and only been held scoreless against one of those same type of teams (Stoke)
Worryingly, Arsenal have scored just 4 goals in the last 6 matches and conceded 13

There were 6 Arsenal starters unable to start this match (Gibbs, Koscielny, Özil, Ramsey, Walcott, Wilshere) and whilst Ramsey did play (he was very good) Flamini picked up his 10th yellow cards for the season and will miss the FA Cup clash against Wigan. And while I think injuries have been key to this seriously poor run of form Arsenal are in at the moment, and that is unlucky, it is also true that Arsenal’s failure to bolster squad depth in the summer and winter transfer windows has played an equal role in contributing to the injuries, to the tired legs (Giroud in particular), and ultimately to the poor run of form.

But… this has actually been a long time coming. Since Arsenal sold Cesc Fabregas the team’s offense has been on a decline and is the worst offense ever under Arsene Wenger’s tenure:

And the reason so many pundits want Arsenal out of the Champions League is that we aren’t exactly the most exciting offensive team in that division either. Arsenal have faced a lot of top teams in that competition over the last four years but have been among the bottom 1 or 2 teams in the Champions League in terms of creating shots per game and unlike the Premier League (where the shots taken are approaching the shots conceded) Arsenal are actually upside down now in the Champions League and are conceding more shots than they take.

Spending money doesn’t guarantee success in sports* but it makes you more likely to be successful — which is why so many teams spend money. Whatever it is that Arsenal are doing at the moment (net transfer outlay £19.4m in three years) isn’t working.

@7amkickoff

*Yes, Everton have been very frugal, however, their leading goal scorer (Lukaku – worth at least £25m) and starting midfielder (Barry) were obtained on loan and have contributed hugely to their success. Getting star players in on loan and hoping Chelsea will let you sign them in the off season seems like an even less sustainable business model than not buying players at all.

161 COMMENTS

So am I brother, so am I. It’s really strange how these graphs have opened my eyes. If you think about it really, we’re pretty shit in the CL, and we’re a bit less shit in the Premier League. We do not play nice football anymore, neither are we getting the results (we did for a while, and last year too, when shit hit the fan). So what exactly are we getting under Wenger? Weigh in the pros and the cons and make up your own opinion. We tell ourselves that we are a classy team with class players, but class players show strength and determination and don’t get battered by 4/5/6 goals. I remember when we used to make the excuse that the players we have are young and inexperienced and that’s the reason why we failed to achieve anything of note. But here we are, a few years later with older players who we’re doing it at other clubs, who are supposed to be more experienced and mature, but we’re getting the same deal. It’s pathetic. We tell ourselves that we’re above getting players like Suarez when the truth is that no player like that will join a club in the state that’s in. When the players go out on the pitch I can see no real goal set for them, as if they’re told ‘go out pass the ball around and shoot a couple of times’. And this has been the case for a while now, even in the first half of the season. When we lose to Chelsea and City we like to complain how much they spend, blah blah blah. Well today Everton played us off the park. How much does their team cost? How much does Southampton’s? If you thought that the players from ’06-’12 were overachieving because of Wenger, I can’t help but get the feeling that these ones are underachieving. That, combined with the likes of Arteta and Giroud who offer little compared to other renowned players in their respective positions make for a very bad viewing. I have felt nothing but sorrow this season. At least last season we didn’t lose like this, at least last season we fought harder and I had hope every match. This, this is too much brother. Peace!

Ok, let me put it this way: If we were to offer a top top top absolutely ultra super top quality player 250k a week and Real Madrid or Barcelona were to come in with an offer of 150k a week, where do you think that player is going to go? Will they go to fight for the Premier League and end up fourth with absolutely no stake in the Champions League or will they go to a club that’s a force to be reckoned with both domestically and internationally? (Mind you Real have failed to win it for more than 10 years, but they are still miles ahead of us on that front)

You know what using the loan system is? It’s a team that’s gone ages without success taking a long, hard, honest look at itself, laying out an ambitious plan for its future, realising that it cannot permanently sign the requisite level of player to bridge that gap and, crucially, putting its ambition over its blind pride.

Give Wenger Gazidiz’s job, and bring in a New hungry manager to manage our team. Now everyone is happy. Wenger can continue to build up Arsenal, and give us the best possible Platform to be able to compete with the sheikhs and Oligark’s. And the fans get a New manager whom can focus on the team and tactics, without being distracted by the business side of things and every other detail you need to think about when running a club.

Imo Wenger work description is to broad, and he dont get as much time managing the Squad as he used to.

If we could somehow clone the Wenger who got the team grinding out victories in the second half of 2012/2013 and the one who got us to the top of the Premier League (pre Jan) this season we’d have the perfect season lol..

In all seriousness… what is so gut wrenching is the ‘what if’…
What if Walcott was fit all season.
What if Mesut Ozil didn’t get played into the ground
What if the OX was fit all season.
What if Ramsey was fit
What if Wilshere was fit.
What if we’d signed another striker in January.

Exactly Lord. We pin this blame on Gazidis, but his job is to make the club money, and he does. Wenger’s Job is to bring on field success, and sadly in recent years he hasn’t. The last 3 seasons have been awful, by his standards, and the last 5 we have looked anything like contenders for anything. Hopefully an FA Cup win will snap us back into something. But i can see that this is Wenger’s last season. It feels like it did when GG’s time was up. Both victims of their own high standards, and last season collapses.

Pissed off is an understatement. It’s incredible the lack of game plan in this team sometimes. I’m all for the Arsenal way… but winning points is far more important.
If we’ve got our most creative and influential midfield and attackers out, Use some fucking management skills and adapt our style of play to the players we have available. This pass side to side crap is pointless without the players in the team to play this style of football.

I don’t see why we cant ever play 2 strikers? I know Arsenes bloody stubborn but surely something like this would of been effective tonight…

Well that was a sore read..
Everybody who is in to football in the UK or anywhere else understands exactly the reason(s) why are consistently failing to improve every season. Everybody. Knows. Why.

Two main reasons.
1. Squad depth.
2. Quality of the players in the squad.

Until we address both of these issues we will never achieve the success of the highest level.
It doesn’t matter what manager you have in charge, you need a big squad with some of the top players in Europe / World football to win / compete across any form of top footballing competition (i.e EPL, FA Cup, Champions League.. etc)

Lets face it.
We don’t have the necessary players / squad depth to do so.
The frustrating thing being an Arsenal fan is, nobody has any idea why we aren’t investing the financial resources necessary to take us back to the summit of English football… some say its Arsene’s fault for not investing the money out of pride.. some say its due to the board’s greed..

Either way we haven’t got a f*cking clue whats going on.
Nor do I think the problem will ever be resolved, regardless whether we get in a new manager or not.
We will still be stuck in the same circle we’ve been stuck in the last 10 years.

It’s not treacherous or unfair to say it’s time for Wenger to go; it’s not been half a season, it’s been 10. It’s time for change and that’s not a malicious or ‘fair-weather fan’ sentiment. I’d like Jurgen Klopp.

I think the problem is that even Wenger thinks it might be time to go. Why else the procrastination over the new contract. It is hardly the action of a man who thinks he is going to tear up the league for the next few seasons. I think maybe the uncertainty is starting to have a negative effect all round. It is very sad but it rather appears that his tenure is just going to peter out – we might win the FA cup of course but not all guaranteed as we look at it tonight.

That really hurts Crispy. They say that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger but getting stung by just one jellyfish made me run out of the water screaming like a wuss. Didn’t make me stronger at all

It’s funny how all the ‘Wenger out’ comments are getting so many thumbs up whereas if you’d said that just yesterday you would have been thumbed down like mad. Us fans (including myself) can be so fickle.

Hope we win the FA Cup and Arsene leaves on a high. Love the man, but sadly.. Wenger out!

I agree with what you are saying.
However I did put forth an opinion respectfully. I think people become a bit blinded after a win or two, and then back to reality after a loss, as deji above pointed out. Wenger deserves respect, but at the moment Arsenal fans expect more, which is all part and parcel of being a big club.

Hopefully we can get 4th place and win the FA Cup. That would salvage this season.
Last summer Gazidis stated our intent that we were ready to spend again, we have no excuses this time around.

I knew that we had declined offensively but I didn’t think the numbers would be THAT bad. These past 3 years have been terrible. Wenger is too smart not to notice that. That’s why he wanted Suarez. Something seriously needs to be done in the summer to give us a faster, better attack than the one we have now. We have been so one dimensional.

to win the europa league you need to qualified to thursday night football . we face bigger team that some of the tosh the spurs and other face on thursday sry
and winning the champions league you need not just a good team but a little bit luck and cheating exploit…. ho wait i will add FACT to make it better

How can wenger play such a high line yet again against a side with pace, the space between the defence and midfield was criminal, against Everton,Chelsea, man city and Liverpool they could of all scored more as well and he doesn’t learn? It’s gross misconduct.

I still think Wenger has it, but, with the way things are at Arsenal I think we have no chance, Wenger is too concerned with the bank balance and doing things his way, a change would be a scary thing for both sides but now it’s the only way that Arsenal or Wenger can go somewhere

Difficult knowing where to start. I’m so depressed at getting slapped by the toffees today that like everybody else I want to rant but that sure ain’t going to fix anything. My take on this is that Giroud is good but in a Pires call him off the bench to score way and not like Henry. With Poldi and Giroud taking up the Pires, Ljungberg role we need to spend big time on a striker and not on one of AW’s protogés who he is sure he can turn into a top striker in 5 years. We need an Alpha striker no matter how much it costs and AW needs to see that. Oh well, time to get outside of copious amounts of alcohol

I get that a lot of fans want a change in management but its obviously not going to happen until the end of the season. If t happens that is. Truth be told i sense Arsene is going to be here for another 3 seasons dependant on the FA cup result.

It’s the constant bad decisions that puss me off more than anything else, Sagna and Monreal left exposed time and time again because our nominal ‘wide’ players have no instructions defensively.

Something has to change, we can’t keep falling apart at this stage of the season, yes injuries have paid a part but we could have addressed weaknesses in January. The Cup is a must win or this season is a write off. I still believe we will get 4th spot but that’s terrible considering the position we were in back in February.

Everyone stop with the Klopp bullshit… Have you never seen Dortmund play? The exact opposite of our team; counterattacking, pace, possession be damned. You want to turn our team inside out? Klopp would need 4 years and 200 million to rebuild the team to suit his style. In the meantime we would drop to 8th or 9th for years.

It is an interesting point, but please remember that Wenger plays a lot of players out of position and in different styles than would naturally suit their play. I have to say with some this has been phenomenally successful and the man is very much smarter than me. But I believe it would not be hard to adjust our style of play with our current squad and a full pre-season. In a perfect world you would get 2 or 3 new players in as well but I don’t think changing the style would require such a drastic change.

The irony of not getting fourth is it gives the board the perfect excuse in not buying the players we need to be able to compete. You can almost here them saying that this player won’t come because of no cl football.
What a complete fucking mess this could end up being. And we thought fergie left man u in a mess. At least they have a board that will spend and try to put things right.
The 3% hike in season ticket prices when we were top of the league is beginning to look even more cynical now.

You are kidding right?
We’re not progressing for sure. We’ve been stagnating for years , our football is predictable, our tactics remain unchanged irrespective of opposition or team selection. Teams like Liverpool and Everton have caught and surpassed us and effectively blow the billionaire benefactor argument out of the water and stats on this very forum show our football has declined in recent years.

Thumbs downs are a comin for this but please… remember that we have a new stadium, money’s been tight while this has been sorted. I might be blind but we’re revving up the engine to compete with the big boys in the coming years. I won’t give-up on Arsene or the team. common lads!

bow out with a cup for everyones sake arsene. been a fan of the man for a long time now , but im afraid there comes a time for everyone. i think this is it now. so poor today. players not doing it for manager anymore. podolski, vermalen, know there out at end of season. just no effort. time is here for the cull i think. still a chance of the cup though..COYG

I think Wenger is losing the dressing room. Even I would become tired with a manager who lacks tactical nous . The senior players also look for guidance but Wenger gives nothing. Week-in, week-out, it’s tippy-tappy 5-a-side training rubbish. When Vermaelen came out and said he and the players wanted Wenger to stay, I laughed. Here was a captain who was on the bench because Wenger did not believe in him, a captain who wants to leave but because he is the captain, he is forced to face the press and say nice things about Wenger. When you hear players praising Wenger all the time while Arsenal get trashed, then you know Wenger is under pressure. The contract has been signed by Wenger but his recent spate of results and the constant bad press on how the season is imploding is preventing Arsenal from revealing the truth. The FA Cup, ironically, since Wenger saw the fourth place trophy as more important is the one thing the BoD is now desperate that Wenger must win so that they can announce his contract signing in order to save face.
You see, Wenger hides behind his pseudo-morality that he never breaks a contract and never breaks his word. Yet you wonder about the morality of a man who wrings his hands, berates the fourth official while he gets paid 145 000 pounds a week to lead Arsenal like lambs to the slaughter against the likes of Man City 6-3, Liverpool 5-1, Chelsea 6-0, Everton 3-0 – always with the same tactics. And fans wonder why the players are up to their ears with Wenger’s nonsense and soundbites – the latest being – going back to basics. In Wenger’s world basics mean tippy-tappy, paceless, tactic-less, one-dimensional, backwards-sideways passing, playing the Giroud, the Arteta, the lost Mon-un-real, Postman Sanogo while he sits clueless on the bench clutching his knuckles, kicking a water bottle or fiddling with his zipper. We are warned to be careful what we wish for?
YEAH, RIGHT!

All the wenger outs is justified, i want him out to if he does not buy a top quality striker like suarez. Bring back alex song, and get fabregas or draxler. And get 2 more fast attacking wingers. And a central defender if vermaelen leaves, and a right back when sagna leaves. Thats the facts thats what we need to compete. I would happily have wenger stay as long as he spends big in the places i suggested! If he does not do that then i will happily see him leave and get a top class manager in to sort this club out! For wenger is tactically blind and very miserable, that is his problem. And the fact that he sees a fourth place finish acceptable for arsenal fc. It is not and he needs to realise. I hope to god we can finish 4th. And win the fa cup, and wenger realises we need at least 5 world class signings! 3 if sagna and vermaelan stay! But sagna will go! And wenger BETTER NOT let him leave for the likes of man city. Its a disgrace to let great players leave for your rivals? What is wrong with his brain? Some of the things hes done in the past 9 years is embarrassing for a man that is so intellegent.

..a top quality striker like suarez. Bring back alex song, and get fabregas or draxler. And get 2 more fast attacking wingers. And a central defender if vermaelen leaves, and a right back when sagna leaves.

Would be lovely. We should have done that 3 years ago, and 2 years ago, and this summer – and all the half-season windows in between. We haven’t. Apart from Özil, who I’m happy we have, but did seem rather “last second panic”, we have had countless reasons to sigh quality players – but we haven’t. Not once, not in years.

You want to hold your breath all summer again? I don’t.

I don’t think Wenger is to blame. I think he’s FAR to intelligent. I honestly think that the board has agendas that Wenger dutifully hides, and tries to face the cameras every time, repeating more soullless damage control and desparate optimism and defence of his players. I simply do not believe that a man of his calibre, would sit idly by for 3-4-5 years, and do nothing – unless someone had tied his hands behind his back. Wenger is intelligent – and loyal. I think he might even leave this summer, and take all the blame, just to save the faces of those above him. He’s the company man, through and through.

The “its the board” crap excuse has been done to death and frankly i cannot believe some still say this,the man himself several times has admitted its him and has openly admitted to refusing to spend big,well to spend on big players as he has spent big on crap,he is intelligent so it must be arrogance then,
OUT!

Nevermind guys. It’s the new norm for Wenger nowdays. Humiliated every aways games is normal. Outplayed, outsmarted and outclassed is okay for him. Just don’t questioned about the team’s spirit. I can’t see anyone who in Arsenal shirt who wants to win today. They just don’t care anymore.

How about Wenger makes a “new” benchmark in the coming weeks? I want to see the team got beaten by at least 5 goals in the coming matches. Granted. Wigan will beat us next week. Hull and Norwich can score at least 3 goals.

Awesome work Tim. I’m curious to know what our goals conceded/clean sheets compares with or without Kos. Why? I’m actually of the opinion that Kos singlehandedly make our defence decent n believe the first step towards rebuilding this team is finding Kos a very competent partner.

Koscielny started and finished Liverpool
Started and finished against Aston Villa
Left after City were up 2-1
Left after Chelsea were up 4-0

He was also played a full 90 in the LC loss to Chelsea and the CL losses to Napoli and Bayern. All 2-0 losses.

I like him but this is a team problem. Mostly I would say a team problem with our fullbacks pressing too high up the pitch constantly. The Chelsea match really opened my eyes. Schurrle basically stood where Gibbs should have been. Chelsea tackled in midfield and then passed to him on the wings where he ran behind the defense and played havoc. That same pattern repeats over and over against these teams where we have big losses. It’s a really insane defensive “system.” I’ve never seen a team do this so consistently and refuse to change it.

Same for Swansea. And where did Lukaku attack from? Why he was played, Tactically, “out of position” on the right (our back left) where Monreal should be standing. And with Poldi’s legendary defending… well it’s not a genius to find that blind spot.

Sure wish we used tactics like that once in a while. Like, perhaps, Ox to keep Baines occupied as he did so well in the FA cup match…

Either Wenger goes after hopefully winning the fA Cup or the Board force him to spend some fucking money ! Ozil is our only serious outlay in quite some time. I’m willing for Wenger to stay if he’s allowed to sign the right players. I think he would be more flexible if we had the playing options to enable him to vary tactics and adapt to situations in games. If we’re not going to re-invest in the squad then new ideas our needed to get the most out of this current crop they look stale and lacking ideas at the moment. Maybe it’s come to the point where the short term pain of the parting of ways with Wenger is required for a long term gain to move us forward again. If this is to happen then I hope Wenger is allowed to leave with the dignity that his stewardship has deserved. Whatever happens he will be forever remembered as an Arsenal Great.

Think today was a line in the sand for many supporters. Up until now AW was quite rightly given the benefit of the doubt, he earned that through everything he has done for the club. But the Everton result on the back of the other ‘accidents’ is too much! Other teams deal with injuries through strengthening their squad and/or changing tactics to take account of absences – why can’t AW? Hope we win the FA Cup so AW can leave with his head held high, don’t want to see him holding on too long and losing the respect and love he deserves.

I’d like some stats on how many times Wenger has actually made a “tactical change” to his game plan during his tenure at arsenal. Started with 4-4-2, went on 4 in defence, 5 in the middle and 1 upfront and nothing EVER changes. Martinez obviously watched our game against Liverpool. By putting Lukaku on the right today (Suarez on the right against Liverpool) and Naismith played as a false 9 (Sturridge) we were destroyed. Mourinho did the same against City to get a win and when City won Chelsea, it was because Pellegrini made tactical changes to the team.

You can get away with wins when you do the usual against smaller teams but definitely not against bigger ones. I’m a huge fan of Wenger, always have been, always will but he’s too emotional and too loyal to his emotional players. This doesn’t work in modern day football. Please win the FA cup and leave on a high.

Away to Chelsea 23/10/99 (had to look it up) Kanu hat-trick and everyone bombed forward. Come to think of it, IF Wenger does allow the players to work things out for themselves then perhaps we should blame them? However, as you have rightly pointed out, Martinez did his homework and set his team up to get 3 points probably knowing full well that we only play one way nowadays.

The blame cannot lay with wenger alone. We have a board that are willing to offer him a 3 year 7 million a year contract. They are rewarding a man who has won 0 in 8 years.
If he stays or goes personally I don’t give a monkeys. And yes he has done wonders for the club and may even deserve a new contract for his past glories, but while we have this board in place I can’t see anything changing with a new manager or with wenger.
The reason they want Arsene to sign a new contract is he keeps us just about competitive each season to keep the majority happy ie fourth place and he does that on a shoestring and without Stan having to invest over and above what we have coming in. The board have no real love of arsenal and see it purely as a cash cow and Arsene is the man that keeps that cow fed.

Wenger’s legacy will be incredible and long-lasting. To keep us in the Champions League every season under the financial restrictions imposed because of the new stadium move at the same time as the emergence of the petro-dollar/sugar daddy clubs has been a miracle. This is a man who put the long term success and health of Arsenal FC above his own ambition and desire for trophies and glory and that should never be forgotten. The likes of Mourinho would never contemplate such a thing.

On top of that he has had to cope with a raft of long-term injuries to key, creative players which has surely had a huge impact on our performances since the turn of the year, denying us attacking threat and goals and increasing the fatigue levels of the players still playing.

However, to hear Arsene claim before today’s game that the Chelsea result was an “accident” and that we should just go out and focus on our own game and try to play as if we are at home made me wince. Such a comment suggests a serious case of denial after the Man City and Liverpool away results and also a worrying tactical naivety. In all three of those games the opposition managers had a thorough and clearly-worked out tactical plan to press high up the pitch and attack us with pace and aggression from the whistle. Everton did exactly the same today. For me it suggests that Arsene is being outthought by his rival managers. They know how to counteract our strengths and Wenger either stubbornly refuses or is simply incapable of adjusting to their tactics. To see selfies and images of our players smiling at opponents celebrating and fooling around on the training ground also suggests that gheir is a lack of drive, focus and winning mentality in outmr squad despite all player protestations to the contrary. Perhaps they are all just a little too comfortable in the well-paid and pampered little bubble that Arsene and Arsenal FC provide for them.

It really is looking like a time for dramatic change if we are to move forward as a club in the way we need to be doing. Evverything is in place for successs and Wenger is to be higely credited for that but perhaps a new, younger, hungrier, fresher, more modern-thinking and tactically astute man needs to be appointed now to take the Club to the next level.

that decision is for the owners to make, not the manager. if they want to bring the club to the next level then they will have to play the industry as dirty as chelsea city milan madrid barca play it instead of waiting it all from their manager…….

-tactics were predictable and inflexible (have been for some time)
-mistmatches (Monreal/Lukaku, Cazorla/Baines) fed Everton goals
-Arsenal did not drive the byline today and until Ox/Ramsey arrived did not drive the box
-opposing teams repeatedly get open field breaks on Arsenal back line.

They will be the same people who were nominating Owen Coyle a few years back.
When the manager called for consistency of performance he could not have had in mind what his players have delivered at Liverpool, Stoke, Chelsea and Everton. These performances must have shaken him to his core and I expect him to call it a day at the end of the season.a truly sad ending.

I made error in accepring Wenger days have finished. His time is up and its insane to have too much control in one man. I feel fans are scared of change and forget we have achieved success in the past. To all those who tbumbed me down and cant acknowledge the truth. Im sorry you deluded fools we need change.

On way home from match. We were given a drubbing. We were handed yet another footballing lesson, this time by a team with a fraction of our resources. We were beaten by a side with far more attacking verve, far more tactical awareness and infinitely more ambition. We looked slow, terribly slow, and seemed to lack any conviction. Worryingly l didn’t understand our gameplan. What exactly have we learned from our hidings this yr? Nothing by the way we played. When one down, the players seemed to have no faith. Too many players heads dropped. Arteta, Flamini and Giroud had nightmares. The whole team played v badly. This humiliation, & believe me we were humiliated is the 4th one this season alone against our erstwhile rivals. The acute pain felt is exaggerated with the promise of the title. To most this was a delusion, but its very existence meant that progress had bn made.

This itself now seems delusional. It’s v difficult to unpack the basis of a collective optimism – poor opposition, transitionary periods for all our rivals, real progress or a mixture of all? It’s similarly difficult to tease out reasons for our collapse – opposing teams gelling, training regimes geared for mid-late seasons, fewer injuries to key players, mental weakness, poor tactics, lack of a coherent team building strategy, no real identity, at best an opportunistic & reactive transfer ‘policy’, v small squad, too little rotation or just poor players. Problematically, most turn on the manager. So we need to turn to the likelihood of success.

Can anyone really envisage Arsene really spending big on a WORLD CLASS striker, a TOP CLASS WINGER DEFENSIVE MF, RIGHT BACK, CENTRE BACK & preferrably 2nd STRIKER? Of course not. That’s why many wanted a strategy of steady acquisition. What we are likely to get are bargains that may, and often do not, work out. The chances are justifications for parsimony will be wheeled out – disrupion of squad eg Spurs (but sidestepping Pellegrini & Mourinho), threat of financial implosion eg Portsmouth & Leeds (sidestepping our huge reserves & revenue streams), FFP regs (what abt Chelsea, City & Liverpool in the Premiership alone) and the catch-all ‘fhnancial sustainability’. Our pattern of behaviour as a club and that of our manager gives no inkling for decisive actinn necessary. Afraid it’s more of the same, basically Wenger’s blind hope in this squad & our (& the board’s) blind hope in Wenger. I’d love him to prove me wrong, but after many years defending him, l’ve run out of patience and excuses.

Is there anything more fucking annoying than the ‘i want my arsenal back’ brigade.
I am fucked if i want my arsenal back of the 1980’s don howe era.
I really hope AW & arsenal win the fa cup if nothing else but to bring some dignity and respect back to our club. and quiten the press. then i hope aw decides to call it a day. in time we will look back at his time with very fond memories of all he has achieved. at the moment all is dark but we will move on from this and
achieve greatness again. all in all i could take or leave the champions league qualifiers in august only to struggle at last 16 or QF stage. time to rebuild for the future & i hope a respectful departure for AW.

Money is not the answer ! Getting the right player in the right positions is ! we need an out n out striker we couldn’t even trouble a 19 year old cb today who at time showed his inexperience ! Or have the pace to beat his 40 year old partner ! We see performances from players who wenger wouldn’t even consider who cost nothing in comparison of what we pay ! Surely we have got decent youth players are we being to picky in not using them !

I remember being slagged off earlier this season, when we were top of the league, for saying that the Board should wait until the end of the season before offering Wenger a new contract. Not such a bad idea now, eh?

I actually don’t think that this result is as damaging as many people think. We have a much easier run-in than Everton, and so I reckon we’ll probably just scrape 4th again. The important thing now is that we win the FA Cup and get that ‘no trophies’ monkey off our backs.

Even if we win the Cup and finish fourth then Wenger has to go. He has clearly lost the plot in terms of transfers, tactics and motivation. Only the most blind or stupid Wenger disciples can’t see that he is a busted flush. And I strongly suspect that he has lost a number of big names in the dressing room. The game is well and truly up. Let him win the Cup and walk away.

This summer, the Board should sit down and draw up a list of suitable candidates and then begin interviews. It would be a good idea if they brought in a real football man to advise them; somebody like George Graham.

The new boss should then be given time and money to build a team worthy of wearing the famous red and white shirt. Then we can get rid of the dross, bring in the talent and do on match days what Wenger couldn’t: actually tactcally prepare for games.

George Graham is undoubtedly a football man but he’s not a 2014 football man ! Wouldn’t let him near the decision process involved in appointing Arsene’s successor. Although would any true Arsenal fans want Gazidis involved in the process as he is definitely not a football man. Arsene deserves to leave with dignity Gazidis just needs to fuck off !

Liverpool
Chelsea
Mancity
Arsenal
Everton
Manchester united
Sp*rs
Southampton
Newcastle
Stoke
west ham
Hullcity——- Giroud and Sanogo, should be playing here (doubt they should even be starting) not for the Arsenal, they are an insult to the great forwards we’ve had over the years. total disgrace. if you throw in Sanogo for a giroud with hope of turning a crucial game like this around then you know you’re in trouble.

Wenger’s attempt to prove EVERYBODY wrong that he can win the BPL with ‘short lightweight’ players playing tippy tappy’ style is the main problem. He is trying to re create Barcelona in England, which can never work, if he tries that against Wigan he will lose again.

Actually ‘ve changed my mind, the minimum has to be 4th place and the FA Cup, if not bye bye to his deluded behind!

Was you saying this when the ‘tip tappy’ football was sat on top of the league for 19 games? Probably not.
The biggest failure hasn’t been the style of play but having faith in mediocre backup and not adding strength to a shallow squad. It’s that which I find unforgivable.

We are so much in denial. What happened over a decade ago under Wenger was truely remarkable and never forgotten. Do you really think our performances this year have been adequate? Why Arsenal fans get thumbed down for caring about poor results is wrong. We all care Arsenal is bigger than Wenger. Now its time to show we care and put forward our opinion even if its lets get new management.

Top of the table for 4 months to relying on other results to get top 4 yet barely taking care of our own should be grounds to consider a managers job. if not then Arsene is indeed bigger than Arsenal *sob*

I Said last summer we should get Matic. And again in January before he got picked up by Chelsea. A big strong powerhouse in midfield, Yes please. And because of Poldi’s reluctance to defend, we could play him as a striker instead of Giroud if we had a big man in midfield to help out on aerial duels on set pieces. For all of Poldi’s faults, he is a clinical finisher, and he usually hit the target and works the keeper. I think we all can Agree Poldi would have put to bed alot of the chances Giroud misses. Infact if there is 1 player in our team you would want the ball to fall to inside or just outside the box with a clear shot on goal, then it would be Poldi. Giroud despite being our Striker, is probably one of the last you would want behind the ball in an attempt on goal :p

Have anyone Else noticed how Wenger dont manage the team during games anymore? He is paralyzed in his chair while his team is getting flogged on the pitch, and it really seems he dont know what to do. Why? He was not like that in the old days. Managers like Martinez and Rodgers are constantly on the Line managing their team and tweaking tactics.

I think Wenger should just run the club as a director or some such, and then we can bring in a Manager to actually manage the team and dont just let the players run around like headless chickens trying to figure stuff out for themselves.

The tactics today was clearly not working, but Wenger did no attempt’s on implementing a plan B, or adjusting his tactics according to how Everton was playing. It is all stick with the original plan.

However i love Wenger, and he has done wonders for our club, and i hope he stays with the club in some role or other like Fergie do at United until the day he bow out for good. And when that that come’s it should be a national holiday. But im sure Wenger himself understand that perhaps his managerial days are coming to an end, or perhaps he is just overworked, cause he seem to have alot of responsibilities at the club far beyond just managing the team.

The fact he has not signed the contract yet could mean he is pondering giving up managing the team and just want to focus building the Brand that is Arsenal and setting the club up for future success, giving it a solid foundation for decades to come. A job he has proven quite good at so far. Not many managers have done so much for a club as a whole, And for that he deserve our eternal gratitude.

@arseblog I have never heard a Liverpool fan criticize their manager and players for a single loss. I know a few. My point is, that until last season they were fighting for top 5 and ended up 7th. They have changed and chopped management twice in a season too. Didn’t work for them. They lost games at home to stoke and wrstbrom. Manure thrashed them at anfield as well. Never heard them booing. Never heard them suggesting sack the management. Only heard them sing loud and even louder each week.
Every arsenal fan I have met only moans when we loose (including me).
reading all the comments above, all Hell will break loose if we loose to Wigan.
Hope.

thats because arsenal is a small club with small time fans.. liverpool have dominated europe and england in their history. their shirt weighs in tonnes and the fans know and respect that. arsenal fans have turned against the manager who transformed their club from average to world class…go figure….

Wenger has claimed Sonogo was supposed to be a great discovery and is not given due credit “because he’s not worth 50 million”. He has also claimed we could not find players that would add more to the team. There are a myriad of other claims that Wenger made that we knew were b011ock$ and eventually proved to be what we thought it was. The conclusion is that Wenger is so caught up in trying to prove everyone wrong he’s lost touch with the obvious. He is an egoist trying to achieve a certain kind of greatness at the expense of the club and all the hard work that has already been done.

@bip..you are probably right…you know why..well because they dont try to insult the intelligence of there fans..by doing nothing in transfer window and then saying shit like we did not see any player good enough for the team while at the same time tucking in another samey(sorry arseblog..for the effect) midfielder..in a team without a proper winger/striker/DM…atleast Liverpool tried new things and then failed…atleast they have a plan B to play..atleast there team can play in a different way..atleast they tweak their tactics based on who they play….
We sadly don’t.. and thats why most(incluing me) as you put it moan.

Arsene Wenger is the reason we expect more than 4th place? Jesus. This revisionist history really gets my goat. In the decade before Arsene Wenger arrived, Arsenal won 2 league titles (one of them only losing 1 game and within a Steve Bruce penalty of setting a new defensive record for top division football), 2 League Cups (when they meant something), an F.A Cup (part of a double cup winning season), a Cup Winners Cup (1 more European trophy than we have won since). We also reached anther Cup Winners Cup Final and a few semi’s. If you listen too the crap people spout you’d think Wenger took over Mansfield Town.

I didn’t say he did. But the fact is we won a lot more in the decade before he got here than we have in the last decade. like it or not, that is recorded in football history books in black and white.

Also, it might not have been a trophy per year, but League Cup 87, League Title 89, League Title 91, FA Cup 93, League Cup 93, Cup Winners Cup 94, it’s a better record than 1 in 2.

My argument wasn’t that Wenger hasn’t done a good job, it wasn’t that he’s a failure or anything else. But don’t come to me with that crap about ‘the club was nothing before Wenger’ because you’re talking out of your arse.

Oh, and to say the club was never ‘big’ or ‘world class’ is absolutely staggering. I suggest you buy an Arsenal history book and read it.

Yesterday, when Arsenal let the second goal for the Everton, I grabbed my TV and smashed it, I couldn’t watch Arsenal who are that sluggish, pathetic and doesn’t want to play ball. You lost against ManU, ManC, Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton…and yet still give reason like kindergarten kids (we have injured players/we have learned lesson, we want to win the Title).

We, Fans of Arsenal deserved more than this, even a lowly Norwich team give a fight before they lost to the bigger team but Arsenal, against bigger team they lost it within the first half of the match. The reason being something was wrong when they play early kick off. OMG that was the stupidest things that I ever heard in my life…

For GOD sake, please sell GIROUD, I never been seen such a whining, complaining striker in my life…come on, you are a striker, surely defenders will physically abuse you, stop complaining, whining, become cry baby to the ref. Be like T.Henry 14, when a defender provoke him, the next thing he will do, the dribble that guy, ole that guy, until that dumb fell on the field and score goals…thats how to respond to the defender who abuse you….not to cry to the ref…each time, people tackled you or get the ball from you bastard…

Sir Arsene, please… please…. instead of buying players..spend millions on the players, please hire some good coaches, to let them aware that AS THE FANS not only we want to see good football…we want to see a fighting spirit instill into our squad…

United might finish above us at this rate. Massive clusterfuck at Arsenal right now. It’s not complete doom (not yet anyway), but some things are plain to see. I’m not getting into unhelpful stuff like ‘we shoulda bought this/that in January. Yeah. We shoulda. But we can’t do anything about that now.

1. Play ANYONE but giroud up front. The man is knackered. And has zero confidence. Sanogo hasn’t filled me with confidence, but he can run. I saw him do that a few times and he got into good positions. He had a goal wrongly disallowed too.

2. Shoot from distance a bit more. Santi, Poldi, Ox and Ramsey are all capable. Hell, even Vermaelen used to do it. If we can’t get through and are tippy-tapping it 30 yards out until we lose it, try and work an opening 20-25 yards out and get one of the those mentioned to twat it.

3. Our full backs can’t be arsed tracking back. So tell them to stop bombing on.

4. Play the Ox. He’s the only one left with real pace.

5. Break quicker. Our build up play is soooooooooooooooooo slow it’s painful to watch. Use the Ox/Rosicky or Santi to bring it forwards. Quickly please and look for movement up front (which is why we can’t use Giroud anymore this season).

6. If someone is having mare after mare, stop picking them. I know Sanogo is raw, but would any manager have kept Giroud on for the second half? He was running through treacle as early as the first Everton goal. If you remember, Stones played a poor backpass and Giroud had about 7 hours to get it. It wasn’t long enough. They easily got there first and within 15 seconds we are a goal down instead of a goal up.

I don’t like to single out players, but Giroud has pushed my patience too far now. Arteta should be benched as well. Too slow and our build ups take an age to ‘develop’. Flamster is suspended, so perhaps a Kallstrom/Ramsey axis would be a decent option for now?

There’s been enough Wenger bashing so I don’t really want to get into that.
But what I will say is that if Arsene leaves we should really look at Martinez. This game was a tactical masterclass
by him :-
1. Exploiting the slower Mert with the faster Naismith down the middle
2. Lukaku overpowering Nacho Monreal with consummate ease down the right
3. The consistent bombing of Baines and Coleman – thus dominating the space that should be occupied by our fullbacks
4. Barkley ran rings all around Arteta
We may have been crap but I must admit Arsene was completely out-thought and Arsenal outplayed.
For Wigan, start Ramsey, Chamberlain and maybe even Sanogo. Arteta’s age seems to be catching up and at this point I’d rather play a tree over Olivier Giroud.
Season is not yet over but it is going to be a colossal fight for top 4 now. COYG!

Funny thing is we could (and probably will) finish 4th and should (but not necessarily will) win the FA cup this year.

At the season start this would have been considered a standard/good outcome for the Arsenal.

The worst thing Arsene did this year was to lead the league for so long. Inflated expectations reminded people this club should be challenging Chelsea and City, not battling Everton and Sp*rz.

Huge mistakes over the last 4 seasons culminating in attacking the league with one substandard centre forward have caught up with Arsene and I fear the damn of indignation has broken, the tide of popular opinion has turned and the horse of loyalty has bolted. (Happy metaphore Monday everyone)

Chelsea, Man U and doubtless City will all be signing players and signing big this summer, if we couldn’t do any business last year how the hell will we compete for top players in a World Cup year?

I’ve just sen Wenger’s post match interview. He was asked about ‘lack of fight from the team.”
Usually he will deny such a theory. Instead, he paused and sighed a little and more or less agreed with ”You could say that.” Inwardly, I have a feeling he may have given them a damn good bollocking. He doesn’t do it often, but I remember an interview with Tony Adams saying he did go ballistic once or twice but it was very, very rare.

Hope he picks this vs Wigan. If he goes with the same team WE WILL LOSE.

Worry follows worry. I have long-spoken of my concerns about transfers in a World Cup year, only to be criticised for not focussing on the here and now. I can’t stress the accumulated problems we will inherit due to the car-crash of our transfer activity (loosely under the umbrella of a ‘policy’). We need to pick up a large number of quality players – in a World Cup year with a manager who has a totally outdated of player valuations and is overly concerned about the club’s fianances. If Arsene is to stay he will need to be relieved of transfer dealings (he should identify players and everything else to do with negotiations – apart from meeting Arsene – needs to be led by someone else). He needs to be very clearly reminded that he is not a director of finance. Preferrably a new negotiating team should be introduced. Unfortunately, none of this is in place and won’t be before the end of the season – we should aleady be ‘on the case’ NOW. Anyone convinced this is happening?

“Whatever it is that Arsenal are doing at the moment (net transfer outlay £19.4m in three years) isn’t working.”

oh alright, lets exclude the players from their responsibilities as professional footballers….lets ignore arteta’s lack of character, lets ignore podolski journeyman behaviour and lets ignore how giroud messed up his chance at top level football with off field adventures. lets ignore mertesaker’s lack of organisation and leadership and lets ignore vermaelens individual horror shows. lets do what we know how to do best, blame the manager.

Er… birbicholi… aren’t you forgetting it was Wenger who bought these players?

The players can only be as ever good as they are. If you buy average/good players, you’re going to get average/good results. If you don’t buy anybody decent during your available transfer periods then you’re not going to even do that well.

The buck/blame lies directly with Wenger/The Board for being tight-arses when they have a £70 million+ spending pot.

are you saying podolski per flamini cazorla tommyv giroud and arteta are not good enough to beat everton? is it not more of a case of these bastards not applying themselves and playing for their manager and fans?

as for the board/manager not speeding. that is a given. not something new. arsenal does not have money to throw around and risk….they would rather go slowly slowly which is very very painful for us i admit….

end of the day arsene is world class. its our players who arent…..whether we can buy world class players or not is up to the board though, not arsene.

Actually, I and many others would say these players are very capable of beating Everton. Just like the players were capable of beating Bradford or Blackburn. Or Birmingham. Unfortunately, the manager send them out poorly prepared, has no plan devised at all and then doesn’t change things when its going wrong until the 70th minute when he makes the sub he’d planned in 2009.

So you see, it’s not just this group of players is it? It was the group before and the group before and the group before that. It was the ones that let a 4 goal lead slip at Newcastle, the ones who fell apart in injury time at home to Sp*rs when we were 2 goals ahead, in fact, you could even argue it was the ones in 99 that surrendered the title despite being markedly better than their opponents, or the ones in 03 that did the same thing, or the ones in 05 that fell apart after 1 defeat.

Wenger had a very good run, but like it or not his flaws are holding us back. He was a world class manager in his day, just like Brian Clough, just like Jock Stein, just like Arrigo Sacchi. Those days are long gone and we’re now paying for it.

Maureen wouldn’t let us have Division 2 quality Demba Ba in the Summer because he saw us as direct competition. But he was willing to let 20 million plus Lukaka go to Everton. Looks like he’ll be more than willing to let us have any players he doesn’t want next season because he’ll be reminded just how shit we are.